


More Than Just Spare Parts

by DawnsEternalLight



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Brothers, Gen, Kidnapping, Rescue, angry dami, angry timmy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 05:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7154768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim and Damian were supposed to be bonding so of course the resulting argument would end up getting one of them kidnapped. Angsty?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Big Fight

“No. We’ll kill each other.”

“I’m with Drake on this one, Father.”

Bruce sighed and leaned back in his chair eyeing his two youngest boys, “I’m not giving you a choice in the matter, you’ll do what I’ve asked or your both off patrol for a week.”

“I don’t see the point in this exercise. Drake and I work perfectly well together in the field,” Damian said crossing his arms.

Tim rolled his eyes but nodded, “The brat’s right, when it counts we’re fine.”

Bruce shook his head, “That’s not enough. You’re brothers, and I hate to see you two fighting all the time. It’s not often I can let you both off patrol, so use this time to bond, Dick and I will handle things tonight.”

“Father-”

“But, Bruce-”

“My decision is final,” the look Bruce gave them was one he usually reserved for criminals who refused to back down and stopped both Tim’s and Damian’s argument’s before they had a chance to form them.

He nodded and stood, “Then I’ll go get ready for patrol.”

After Bruce had disappeared behind the clock Damian groaned and kicked at nothing, “This is your fault, Drake.”

Tim spun on his brother, “And how exactly is this my fault?”

Damian crossed his arms and tilted his chin back at him, “If you’d just retired when I arrived we wouldn’t have to ‘bond’.”

 “Retired? I was here long before you, I’d still be robin if you hadn’t pushed your way into the position.”

“It was mine by birthright, I had every right to take it from the adopted son.”

“Birthright? If I remember correctly you were little more than spare parts to the al Ghuls.”

Damian’s eyes went wide, and whatever he’d been about to say died on his lips as his mouth clamped shut in a determined scowl. Tim thought he could see spots of red on Damian’s cheeks, and a wet sheen to his eyes, but his younger brother spun on his heel so fast Tim couldn’t be sure.

“Damian, wait-” he had to apologize, but the kid had already stormed out of the room, brushing past Dick as he entered.  

Tim’s oldest brother whistled as he walked in the door, “What was that about? Dami looked ready to kill someone.”

“I said something stupid, that’s all,” Tim grumbled, then moved past him, “I’d better go make sure I didn’t hurt the Demon Spawn’s feelings.” 

Even using his usual nickname for Damian felt wrong after the low blow he’d struck. He knew what those words would do to Damian, so why had he said them? It’s not like the fight had been anything out of the usual. Was it resentment that even after years Damian still seemed to hate him? Irritation at being benched because he couldn’t get along with a kid? Or had some twisted part of him wanted to see the hurt in the kid’s eyes, just to gratify his own self esteem?

Those were things he didn’t have time to think about right now, because for whatever reason what he’d said had been wrong, and he needed to apologize.

After some searching he found his youngest brother outside, tossing a tennis ball with Titus. The sun was beginning to set and he had to squint to make out Damian’s figure.

“Go away, Drake,” Damian didn’t even turn around as he reached down to tug the tennis ball out of Titus’s mouth.

“We’re supposed to be bonding,” it sounded weak even to him.

“If you think-” Damian was cut off by Titus who’d turned away from them to growl in the direction of the wooded area beyond them.

Both boys froze, eyes going to the trees. They stood there for a few seconds, Damian’s hand tightening around the tennis ball as they waited. Tim had convinced himself that the cause of Titus’s agitation was a squirrel when a second tennis ball rolled out of the woods.

“Back!” Damian snapped and both he and Tim jumped away from the offending ball.

When nothing else happened, Tim felt foolish, Titus’s squirrel had probably just knocked a forgotten ball out of the cover of the trees. Then the tennis ball in Damian’s hand exploded in a puff of green smoke. Damian threw the remains of the ball away from him but it was too late, surprise had caused both boys to gasp, taking in the strange substance.

The effect was immediate as Tim’s head began to spin and his vision doubled. A figure stepped out from the trees that to his eyes he seemed impossibly tall and skinny, and was he wearing a cape or was that a coat? It was defiantly a coat, no matter what his vision was telling him.

Titus was the first to react, lunging at the man and taking him down in a tackle of fangs and claws. Tim struggled to get his head straight as the Great Dane tore at the intruder.

“Drake,” Damian coughed, “Go get Father.”

“I’m not leaving you here.”

Neither was left with time to argue as Titus was flung aside as the intruder got to his feet. There was a roar of fury from his side and Tim glanced over in just enough time to see Damian fling himself at the intruder.

“Don’t!” Tim shouted and chased after his brother. His foot caught on a rock and his world swayed. He cursed as his balance was lost and he fell forward. What _had_ been in that gas? As he pushed himself back up he saw Damian land a blow on the man who pulled back.

Damian staggered, and Tim knew that any clarity his little brother had gained from his fury was fading. His attacker saw the opening too and reached out for him. Tim added a burst of speed to his run but the space separating them only seemed to stretch out as Damian was dragged backward towards the other man.

There was the glint of something bright in his hand, “This’ll teach you, you little brat,” the man’s voice was familiar but Tim couldn’t worry about that now. Where was his gear when he needed it?

Damian threw himself away from the other man and Tim was sure he’d end up on his face when, out of nowhere, Nightwing swung down and caught him before landing by the stunned Tim.

“One night of no trouble is too much to ask for isn’t it?” Dick said laughingly as he set Damian down and stepped in front of his brothers to address the intruder.

Tim turned towards Damian who was pale, and couldn’t seem to catch his breath. His eyes roamed his younger brother searching for some kind of wound.

“I’m fine, Drake.” Damian hissed, “He missed.”

“The last thing you are is fine,” Tim whispered back.

“I could say the same about you, but we don’t have time to worry about that right now.”

They both looked towards Dick who’d taken a few steps closer to the man, and was speaking, “I wonder what Bruce Wayne would say if I told him the babysitter he’d so carefully chosen was a kidnapper?”

The man shrugged, “Nightwing, while I’m surprised to see you, your presence here doesn’t change anything. Step aside.”

“So you know me, but I don’t know you, which is a little unfair,” Dick crossed his arms.

“You can call me The Vet, for all the good it will do you.”

Tim could barely pay attention to the conversation, he was too busy trying not to pass out. It was growing harder to breathe, and his muscles were tightening as if he’d overworked them during training. A quick glance at Damian told him his brother was having the same problem, though Damian looked worse off, probably due to the fact that he was smaller than Tim.

“Nightwing,” the question came as more of a gasp from Damian as he attempted to get his brother’s attention, but Dick didn’t seem to be listening.

“I can understand why you didn’t tell him in the interview, I mean really I do, kidnapping is never a good skill to add to a resume, but I can’t in good faith allow you to keep watching over them, you understand that right?”

 A wicked sneer crossed the Vet’s lips, “I’m afraid you’ll soon be forced to leave one of them with me.”

Tim couldn’t see it but he knew his older brother had grinned, sometimes he hated Dick’s tendency to never stop talking during a fight. His banter had gotten them into more trouble than it had gotten them out of, and if he didn’t shut up and fight soon Tim was afraid this would be another one of those situations.

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“I’ve gassed both boy’s with a special cocktail of mine that should kick in,” he glanced at his watch, “in three, two, and one.”

Like magic at the end of his countdown a raging pain shot through Tim’s nerves. It was as if all at once every muscle in his body had begun to convulse, his legs giving out coupled with a strangled cry. Somehow Dick caught both him and Damian as they began to jerk wildly.

“What did you do to them?” the venom in his oldest brother’s voice was one Tim had rarely heard.

“I told you, I’ve given them a special drug. In a little over half an hour both their hearts will either burst from the strain or stop. I’ve never tested to figure out which actually happens.”

Dick’s grip on both of them tightened and Tim wondered if it was from anger or because he’d begun jerking even harder, either way he tried his best to still his movements, but his body refused to answer to his command, he at least could keep himself from crying out like a child.

The Vet pulled a syringe from his pocket and waved it, “I’d originally intended to only hit one Wayne, so I’ll give you the choice of who to give the antidote to. The other goes with me.”

“If I refuse to choose?” Dick asked.

“Then they both die. There are other ways to get to Wayne than kidnapping.”

Tim’s gaze strayed to Damian, the kid was jerking as bad as he was, but there was a determined set to his face, his eyes locked on Dick.

In shaky breaths his younger brother said, “Leave me…I’ll…be fine.”

Dick shook his head, “I can’t.”

“C-can’t leave Drake with him,” Damian groaned, “He’s likely to die before you can find them.”

“I’m not leaving either of you, maybe I can force the antidote’s location out of him.”

“No time,” Damian hissed, “If you won’t-” he grabbed Dick’s arm and somehow managed to pull himself into a sitting position, “I’ll go myself.”

Tim had no idea how Damian had managed to lift himself from the ground, let alone attempt to stand, but it forced Dick to follow him, if only to catch Damian as the spasms became too much for him and he collapsed again.

The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Tim. The entire reason they were out here tonight, his jab at Damian being ‘spare parts’ for Ra’s al Ghul was being grotesquely re-imagined. Back when Ra's was after a new body Tim and Damian had also been the choices. Then Damian had consistently chosen himself before everyone present, now his younger brother would rather sacrifice himself than think about his own safety.

“N-no-” he wasn’t even sure Dick had heard him. His older brother was nodding and taken Damian into his arms. His breath hitched as he watched them approach The Vet. With obvious hesitation Dick traded Damian for the syringe.

“It goes without saying, but follow me and I’ll let the kid die,” The Vet said before ducking back into the trees.

Dick was by Tim’s side in a second, injecting him with the bluish liquid, “Go… after him!” Tim gasped.

Dick shook his head, “I got a tracker on him, we’ll find him. But for now I’ve got to get you inside.”

* * *

Tim was sick, and it wasn’t a side effect of the poison. Sure everything hurt, and his head was still spinning a little, but the source of his churning stomach was of an entirely different origin. As he lay on the cave’s hospital bed he couldn’t stop thinking about what he could have done to have prevented Damian from being kidnapped.

What bothered him the most was the fact that he’d done nothing to prevent Damian from offering himself up to the kidnapper. He hadn’t offered himself in Damian’s stead, or tried to convince Dick it was a bad idea, he’d just laid there like a helpless babe while his younger brother took everything on his own shoulders.

There was a crash as Bruce and Dick’s argument escalated, pulling him out of his own thoughts. He pushed himself into a sitting position, “I thought I said go easy on him, Bruce,” he glared at his adopted father who’d shoved Dick into a table, “We need to stop arguing and start finding Damian.”

Bruce turned to him, his face softening for a moment, “You need to rest, I’ll find Damian.”

Dick stepped forward, “Are you sure I can’t convince you to let Alfred help you up to your bed?”

Tim shook his head, “I’m not resting until Damian is safe. This is more my fault than any of yours, and I intend to do something about it,” he slipped his legs over the side of the bed and hopped down, only to realize his legs felt like jelly.

A hand on his shoulder stilled him, “Sit back down or I’ll personally carry you up to the manor.”

It was Bruce looking worried, Tim nodded and hopped back up on the bed, “I’m fine, the side effects should fade soon. How’s the trace going?”

It had been running almost from the moment Dick had carried him into the cave, along with a replication of the antidote created from what was left in the syringe Dick had used on Tim and should be close to locking in on Damian’s location.

Dick leaned over the computer panel, pulling up the screen. A map of Gotham pulled up, a circle highlighting the area of the city the trace had narrowed to so far as a cursor moved around the inside searching. The cursor stopped, blinking off and an error message appeared on the screen.

“What?” Tim blinked at it, as Bruce charged forward

“I didn’t do it,” Dick said moving out of Bruce’s way.

“Master Bruce. There’s an urgent message for you, one I believe you’ll want to see,” Alfred’s face had appeared on the monitor taking up a corner of the screen.

After making sure Tim would make a full recovery Alfred had gone up into the manor, with the excuse of making them something to fortify them to go after Damian.

“Not now, Alfred,” Bruce didn’t even glance at his butler’s face.

“It might be from the kidnapper,” Tim was sure it was from the kidnapper, and he dreaded seeing what it contained.

“That is what I believe as well. I’ll forward it to you,” Alfred’s window blinked off replaced with an envelope icon. Bruce selected it and it opened a video file.

A face pulled away from the screen and waved, “Bruce Wayne, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, you can call me The Vet. I’m sure by the time you’re receiving my message you’ll have realized your youngest has gone missing. He’s fine, and will stay that way as long as you follow my instructions to the letter. If not-”

The camera cut to Damian sitting in some kind of tank. The young robin was aiming a glare in its direction when the next second there was the flash of electricity and his eyes widened as his body tensed before his scream filled the Batcave.

Tim’s world tilted and he found himself standing, jelly legs forgotten as he stalked towards the computer, “I’m going to kill him.”

“Tim,” Dick’s hand was on his shoulder pulling him from his fury, he blinked at his oldest brother, “We’ll get him.”

“Right. He gave us 24 hours?” Tim looked to Dick who nodded in confirmation, “I’ll find him in half that.”

* * *

Damian woke up to a headache that he promptly moved to the back of his ‘to worry about list’. He rolled onto his back and had to swallow a cry, everything _hurt_.

“You’ll want to be careful. The side effects of the Jitterbug Serum can be pretty bad, and when you add electricity to that, well you can’t be feeling very good.”

The voice came from a speaker located above him, and Damian aimed his glare over to his kidnapper who was in the same place he’d been when he’d filmed his foolish ransom note, standing by Damian’s tank.

 He struggled into a sitting position, ignoring his protesting muscles by sheer force of will and glared at the man, “What do you want with me?”

 The man shrugged, “I thought it’d be obvious, you are the son of Bruce Wayne after all.”

 “TT, and you couldn’t have picked Drake?” Damian murmured half to himself.

 “You did volunteer.”

"Shut up!" Damian shouted and got to his feet, leaning heavily against the back wall of the tank, "When I get out of here I'm going to punch your face in."

"Because I kidnapped you?" There was a delighted twinkle in the man's eyes.

Damian scowled, "No, because you used me against my family."

"I'll be delighted to see it, if you can get yourself out of there."

Getting himself out wasn't the hard part, the foolish man had left him with his knife still tucked into it’s ankle holster meaning he had everything he needed to get out of the tank. The hard part would be the timing. As much as he hated to admit it he was in no shape to break out on his own right now. He either had to wait for Batman and Nightwing to arrive or for the side effects of the poison to fade enough for him to move easily.

He felt a pang of irritation at himself, if he hadn’t stormed out of the manor tonight none of this would be happening, but he’d let Drake get to him. His brother’s words hit him again even now, ‘spare parts’. They were like a punch to his stomach as he stood there, like some kind of damsel in distress. He gritted his teeth together, he would get himself out of this mess, if only to prove to himself he was worth more than those words.

"Until then, I have business to attend to in preparation for our meeting with your father."

Damian was happy to have lost the attention of the man. It left him time to work out the tank's weakest point. With a glance at The Vet to make sure he really had turned away he began to tap and kick at the glass around him testing it.

"If you think you can break it by hitting that glass your mistaken it's-"

"Specially reinforced and designed to keep large aquatic animals such as sharks and Dolphins. I could describe the technique used to create the glass for you, but I'm sure your already aware of it. Dr. Joseph Baker."

"How do you know who I am?"

Damian smirked and crossed his arms, "Child's play."

"Humor me."

"You’re a scientist who created his own kidnap drug. Very few professions give one the ability to do that successfully. That fact plus our location being an aquarium only recently abandoned left a very short list of suspects. I merely had to figure out which scientist previously employed by Wayne enterprises would have the gumption to kidnap a Wayne. The likeliest was the head scientist at Thirteen Leagues Labs Dr. Joseph Baker."

Baker let out a chuckle, "You’re a smart kid."

"I take an interest in my Father's company."

"That was still quite the feat for a kid, I'm impressed."

“I don’t care if your impressed or not,” Damian scoffed turning away from him, The Vet’s opinion was the last thing he cared to know. The more important opinion belonged to his family, who he’d get back to no matter what.


	2. Lost and Found

The smell of coffee filled the cave as Tim took another sip from his mug. He’d lost track of how many cups he’d gone through as he, Dick, and Bruce had worked their way through the video that worked as The Vet’s ransom note.

“Tim go to bed,” Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was almost dawn and they still hadn’t figured out where Damian was.

Most of the clues had been obvious, and only somewhat helpful. A tank of some kind, which could be in almost any of the buildings in the area the scan had narrowed to, equipment labeled with the Wayne Enterprises label which cut the buildings numbers down by about half, and the man himself who was familiar to Tim, he just hadn’t been able to place him yet.

“Not until I’ve found something. How’s Alfred doing with replicating the antidote?” Tim clicked through the second by second capture of the video as he asked.

“The same as he was last time, it’s curing,” Bruce said, “Let me take over. You’ve been through enough tonight.”

Tim slammed the half full cup on the desk, sloshing the hot liquid partially over the rim, “I can’t.”

“It’s not your fault, Tim,” Dick said stepping over with a towel to wipe up the spilled coffee.

“It is my fault. I sent him out there, if we hadn’t been fighting _again_ then-”

“That’s enough,” Alfred was descending the stairs, a tray of breakfast in his hands, “I’ve heard each of you blaming himself all night and I’ve had it. There is nothing any of you could have done to prevent this, so I recommend you stop this useless fault finding and have some breakfast.”

“Alfred’s right,” Dick said, “We’ve got to stop blaming ourselves. Now turn that off, and let’s have breakfast before we continue.”

Tim sighed, they were right of course, but he couldn’t shake the guilt that weighed him down. No matter how he looked at it, his rash words had caused this and he would find a way to fix it. He looked up at the screen intending to follow Dick’s instructions and take a break when he noticed it.

The image was frozen on Damian, his mouth opened in what should have been a scream, but his lips were wrong. They were pressed together like he was saying something, “Hold on-” Tim said, pushing the video back before playing it slowly, sound off, his eye’s locked on his brother’s lips. There it was, a word. He was mouthing a word. The brat had given him a hint that had been there all along, if he wasn’t so relieved to have found something he would have been irritated by the fact that again Damian had defied his expectations.

“Guys, look he’s saying something,” he replayed the video for the others.

“It looks like its aquarium. But which aquarium would they be at?” Dick said.

Tim suddenly knew exactly who the man was and where they were, he just had to confirm it “Six month’s back, Batman busted an underground group of men involved with illegal mutation’s at a few of our research labs, right?”

"I remember something like that happening,” Bruce nodded.

“That’s what I thought, I know where they are.”

* * *

Damian knew that Baker couldn’t stay and watch him all day, it just wasn’t possible. The moment the doctor left him alone he’d make his break for it, at least that had been the plan. When Baker stood and stretched, announcing he’d better get going Damian was ready.

“But first, a little surprise,” Baker said tapping at his smartwatch, “I’ll bet you were wondering why the tanks are electrified if this used to be an aquarium.”

“I wasn’t,” Damian said.

That seemed to take a little of the energy out of Baker, but he shrugged it off as one of the tanks hissed open and a creature stepped out on four clawed, scaled legs. A mix of alligator, shark, and a handful of other aquatic and semi-aquatic animals, it was huge, and grotesque. The creature stretched before ambling over to Baker who grinned.

"This is Alicia, she’s the best behaved of all my pets and will look after you while I’m away.”

Seeing Alicia Damian’s anger at the doctor doubled, what kind of person thought it was ok to cobble together a bunch of animals to make another one? There was nothing scientific about that, it was simply cruel.

Baker frowned at his glare, “You don’t like Alicia?”

“I don’t like you,” Damian spat, the sooner he could get out of here and get the mad doctor into Arkham the better.

Baker hadn’t even made it away from his desk when the glass above them crashed open, spraying shards everywhere. Both Damian and Baker looked up as Batman, Nightwing, and Red Robin came crashing in. At the noise, Alicia jumped up and growled, holding her position by Baker. Baker in contrast, seemed delighted and clapped as the vigilantes landed.

“Now this is exciting! I didn’t expect to have three of Gotham’s heroes to come today, you guys must be close to Bruce Wayne to go through all this trouble. Are you still on his payroll, even after the whole Batman Incorporated scandal?”

“After our last meeting, I would have paid Bruce Wayne for the chance to give you what karma owes,” Nightwing said cracking his knuckles.

“Did karma dictate you bring backup or did you just learn from your failure?” Baker asked.

Damian snorted, Grayson had walked into that one.

“Enough, Dr. Baker I suggest you release the boy and hand yourself over, I’ve had a long night that’s left me with little patience,” Batman stepped forward.

Baker began to pace, “I could, but that would defeat the purpose of everything I’ve done,” he paused and looked at them, “I am willing to let you three go with no trouble if you’ll give Bruce a message for me.”

“Not going to happen,” Red Robin crossed his arms.

“You haven’t even heard my message yet.”

“I don’t need to, because we won’t be giving Bruce any kind of message,” Red Robin said before throwing a disc at Baker and breaking into a run to follow it.

“Red Robin, don’t!” Nightwing chased after Tim as Alicia roared and leapt forward, catching the disc in her jaws.

“The hard way it is,” Baker shrugged and tapped at his watch again, opening the other tanks in the room. More creatures like Alicia charged out and surrounded the men, circling them like prey.

“Now, you three are going to let my pets play with you for a while, or the brat will die, and just to make sure you play by the rules-” he paused to fiddle with his watch again and Damian knew what was going to happen before it did.

In a futile attempt at avoiding the inevitable he took in a deep breath and held it just before the tank he was in flooded with green gas. Maybe, if he could hold his breath long enough Batman or Nightwing would-He screamed as a bolt of electricity raced through him again. This one only lasted a moment, but it had done its job well enough, Damian found himself gasping in deep gulps of the poisoned air as he tried to keep himself from falling.

He shot a glare at Baker who seemed to be giving him a ‘sorry but I don’t have time for your games’ look. Then the same sickening feeling from the night before began to wash over him in waves. He tried to pay attention to what was going on around him but his head was spinning and his vision blurring again and he only caught parts of what was being said outside, there was something about an hour, then he caught fragments of fighting and a laugh, followed by a shout that sounded like it belonged to Tim.

That sound was enough to spurn him into action. He was tired of playing the victim, it was time to do something about this mess and help his family. Channeling his anger at Baker he managed to yank his knife from its holster and brace it against what he thought was the weakest point in the glass. He hit it until the tip stuck, held on its own. Then he stepped back and aimed a kick at it, his double vision made the kick go wide, but at least he hadn’t knocked the blade out of place. He aimed a second kick that landed this time, shattering the glass around it.

He charged out through the hole and into chaos. His brothers were taking on a grouping of the part alligator creatures while his Father was wrestling with another. Three already lay unmoving on the ground. Damian’s eyes searched for Baker, the doctor was inching towards Batman, something in his hands.

Damian charged at Baker and caught the back of his coat, dragging him away from Batman. The doctor spun and was shocked to find Damian’s fist connecting with his face, “Told you I’d punch your face in,” Damian grinned before taking another shot at the man, it landed, but with less force than the first.

“Brat!” Baker hissed and grabbed Damian by the front of his shirt, swinging him in an arc over him. Damian landed hard, his breath knocked out of him as his back met the hard floor. He rolled over and propped himself up on his hands and knees coughing as he tried to catch his breath.

He stood again and the room spun, but he had little time to wait for it to right itself as another creature stalked Tim, who’d been separated from Dick. Damian threw himself in its direction and latched onto it’s back, his arms going around its scaly neck.

“Back off you mutated freak,” Damian growled as he tried to pull its attention away from his brother.

“Damian?!” Drake stood shocked for a moment as he watched Damian wrestling the creature.

“A little less gawking, and a little more helping,” Damian hissed, tightening his hold in an attempt to cut off the creature’s air supply.

“Right,” Drake slipped a disc from his belt and held it out towards the creature, “On the count of three you jump. One, two, three!” he threw the disc at the creature at the same time as Damian flung himself off it’s back the disc stuck in its forehead and released a web of lightning knocking the beast unconscious.

“Here,” Drake’s arms tugged Damian up from where he’d landed. Damian noticed that his brother had a gash cut across one of his arms, and was probably the source of his earlier cry. The two stood together for a moment staring out at the remaining creatures, assessing the situation.

“I’ll take..gha!” Damian’s muscles had started to contract again in the second phase of Baker’s drug. The jerking was slower to take over this time, knocking a leg out from under Damian and causing him to grab Tim’s arm for support.

“Is it the drug? You need to sit down, or it may spread faster,” Drake took him by both arms but Damian yanked himself away.

“I’m fine. It’s slower this time. We need to help the o-others.”

His brother shook his head, “Not happening, you’re in no shape to fight any more.”

Damian glared at him before losing complete control over the muscles in his legs and collapsing with a surprised yelp.

“Nightwing! Some assistance,” Drake shouted over the din.

“No,” Damian argued, but Nightwing had already swung over.

“Damian! Red Robin, what’s going on?”

“We need to get him to the cave, but I don’t think I’ll be able to carry him once the spasms set in fully.”

Grayson nodded, “Makes sense. I’ll take him, if you help Batman clean up here,” he reached town and pulled Damian into his arms, but not without a fight from the boy.

Damian struggled as Grayson leaned him against his chest, one arm wrapping around his back, while the other supported his thighs, “No, we can’t leave. What if the creatures-” he was cut off by another spasm.

“Batman and Red Robin can take care of themselves. I’m not letting you die today because your too stubborn not to fight when poisoned, now hold on.”

Damian reluctantly wrapped his arms around his oldest brother’s neck, leaning over his shoulder to try and look out over the destroyed aquarium. Batman and Red Robin were fighting another creature together, but he didn’t get to see how it turned out as Grayson’s arm left his back and shot a grappling hook upwards, dragging them out of the room and into the sky.

* * *

Damian didn’t want to open his eyes, he felt safe, and warm, something that had been rare in the past twelve or so hours. He shifted slightly in his bed and groaned, everything hurt again.

“Damian? You awake?” The question came from a voice that sounded like Tim’s and Damian cracked an eye open intending to glare at his brother, but the worried look on his face stopped him.

He opened both eyes, “Drake,” his voice was raspy as if he’d been screaming.

With a flash of remembrance he realized he had, the second dose of the poison had been stronger, and had been harder to bear as its effects had grown worse. His memory ticked with the idea that Alfred hadn’t quite had the antidote ready when Grayson and he had arrived, but after that things got fuzzy.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Are you asking about before or after Alfred had to restart your heart?” Tim’s face was grave, no trace of a joke or prank in it.

“My heart?” he frowned, “I don’t remember anything after Grayson dragged me from the building.”

“Lucky you,” Tim murmured, before shaking his head, “Bruce and I arrived just as Alfred was administering the antidote for the first time, we waited and waited but it didn’t seem to be working so Alfred tried again. The second attempt slowed the poison so fast it stopped your heart.”

Damian frowned, “I bet Father didn’t like that.”

"No one liked that,” Tim eyed him, “After we got you stable Bruce decided you’d be more comfortable here than down in the cave.”

“And what are you doing here?”

“Keeping an eye on you. Alfred’s declared that you’re not allowed out of bed for at least 24 hours.”

Damian scowled, “I don’t see why, I feel fine,” To prove it he tried to sit up, only his muscles sized up again and he fell back with an oomph. Drake raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t comment.

“I’ll be fine in a few minutes, I’m not done waking up yet,” Damian grumbled, “You still haven’t answered why it’s you keeping an eye on me. Grayson would be the better choice.”

“That’s hurtful, but I guess it’s true. I volunteered,” he tilted back in his chair to gauge Damian’s reaction.

Damian scoffed, “That’s the most laughable thing I’ve heard all day.”

“I’m serious, I was worried about you. You forget I got hit by some of that gas too, I know how it feels.”

“I didn’t forget, I just didn’t want to remind you who’s fault this all is.”

Tim stood, pushing his chair back away from the bed, “I know it’s my fault, but I’m not going to sit here and let you throw that in my face, recover on your own.”

He spun around and stalked towards the door. Damian tried to push himself up so he could go after him. He never learned, why did he insist on pushing away everyone who tried to help him?

“Drake, wait.”

Tim turned, his eye’s widening at Damian’s attempts to get out of the bed, and he was back over at his brother’s side in two strides, his hands going to Damian’s shaking shoulders.

“Let go, Drake.”

“You shouldn’t be trying to get out of bed, Damian.”

“Well, who’s fault is that?”

“Both of ours, now lay back down.”

The two struggled for a second, Damian trying to pull away from Tim, while Tim was trying to shove Damian back towards the bed until they both shoved at the same time and Damian’s muscles decided they couldn’t take it anymore, his arms gave way and he fell back with an infuriated yelp.

“Crap, Dami. Are you ok?” Tim leaned over trying to get a better look at Damian who’d managed in one motion to curl under his blankets and was glaring out from a slit in them. When Tim tugged at the blankets they didn’t budge, “Let go, I want to make sure I didn’t break anything other than your pride.”

“My pride is intact, thank you.”

His irritation was thrown off by a hitch in his voice. Tim yanked the blanket back and found a furious, red faced, teary eyed Damian beneath. No actual tears had fallen yet, but as they both stared at each other, Tim, surprised that Damian was this close to tears, and Damian, irritated with himself, his weakness, and the pain that had shocked the tears into existence they did indeed begin to fall.

Damian buried his face in a pillow and Tim stood there unsure of what to do. He had never seen his brother close to tears, let alone cry and he had no idea what to do. Did he mention that he had no idea what to do?

“Damian,” he knelt by the bed, “Tell me what’s wrong,” His little brother shook his head, short black hair ruffling the pillow. Tim was sure that if Damian could move right now he’d have disappeared off to somewhere dark and hard to reach.

“If you’re not going to tell me I’m going to have to guess, and I’m not sure you want that,” Tim said.

When Damian didn’t respond Tim sighed, “Fine, your upset because your frustrated by how you feel. Which is powerless, in pain, and mad that you couldn’t do more when you were kidnapped. And I know the reason for it all is because-” a pillow smacked him in the face and he yanked it away, “Let me finish.”

Damian glared up at him, but Tim continued, “Dami, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you spare parts, I’ve been meaning to apologize for a while now.”

“TT, I doubt it.”

“Don’t ruin my apology,” Tim glared, then sighed, “I shouldn’t have said that because you’re so much more than all that, a Wayne, Robin, and most important of all, you’re my little brother,” Tim ruffled Damian’s hair, “And if you tell anyone I said all this, you’ll wish I’d left you with the good doctor.”

Damian gave him a half smile, “I’d like to see you try.”

“That’s my little brother,” Tim grinned, “Now rest up. I’ll go find Dick. He was saying something about having picked out the best movie to make the time go by faster for you two to watch together. Apparently Steph helped him pick it out.”

Damian groaned, “Maybe you _should_ have left me at the crazy aquarium.”

**Author's Note:**

> I have re-written this fic no less than 3 times now. Tim wasn't even in the original version, and yet somehow he wormed his way into the entire thing (It's ok Timmers, we love you so we don't mind your invasion). 
> 
> This started out as a what if idea that warped into a (kind of?) bonding fic. Because I've done nothing but work on it I'm afraid I've overworked it, though if I haven't I'd love it if you'd let me know. Fluff is my usual style and so this is a little out of my comfort zone but the idea wouldn't leave until I'd finished it, and after all this work who am I to keep the whole fic to myself?


End file.
